Hatred

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HATRED - PAGE 5

Europe has a special worry about a broken, uncaring economy. Things rip apart. More and more people fall into desperation. Some of them decide it's the fault of immigrants. Or homosexuals. Or . . . "Today, Nazi influences are growing in Europe for the same reasons they did back then. The social safety nets have been torn, and people are left behind. Left alone. The hopelessness is what comes first, then the hatred. It's never the other way around," writes NEVER FORGET. TO VOTE , a campaign led by Sweden's Social Democratic Party, in the run-up to the European Union elections on May 25 -- which features Rainer Hoess, grandson of the commandant of Auschwitz, warning people that democracy and human rights can never be taken for granted.

The "American Dream" has become increasingly elusive for an ever-growing segment of the population. This segment is angry with its inability to share in this country's bounty. Louis Farrakhan and Patrick Buchanan are taking advantage of that anger in similar fashion. Their campaigns of hatred and divisiveness, one religious and the other political, have no purpose other than to feed their egos. Sadly, unless the economy is able to offer an opportunity for those willing to work to achieve the "American Dream," there will be more of these demigods on the horizon.

William Salkover, writing about his hatred of heat and mosquitoes and his love for air conditioning (Voice, July 3) obviously is uninformed about human habitation before the invention of air conditioning. Is he not aware of the fact that his ancestors coexisted with nature for nearly 1 million years prior to air conditioning? Humans are in fact natural life forms that at one time lived through "intolerable" heat with the insects, birds and flowers. Mr. Salkover can continue to gripe in his air-conditioned existence, consumed by his hatred for hot weather, armed with his bug spray and ready to repel those B-52-size mosquitoes.

While reading about Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Crawford, Texas, and the Putin/President Bush press conference, one is reminded why the United States is a great nation. Unlike the members of the Taliban, who revel in the hatred of past wrongs and long for vengeance against the crusaders and anyone else who does not share their view of forced Islamic resurgence, our country has learned not to build on hatred of our former enemies. Once Japan and Germany caused great suffering to our nation, yet at war's end, we helped in their rebuilding and became partners in peace.

Pope John Paul II urged hundreds of thousands of young people Saturday to be "artisans of peace," telling a rally outside Madrid that violence and terrorism are sowing hatred and death in the world. The pope made peace a theme of the opening day of his weekend visit to Spain, clearly referring to his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "Dear young people, you well know how concerned I am about peace in the world," he said. "The spiral of violence, of terrorism and war provokes, even in our days, hatred and death."

Richard Pryor will get the first Mark Twain Prize for humor, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday. The award will be presented Oct. 20 at the center's first annual "Celebration of American Humor." Performers invited include Chevy Chase, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Damon Wayans and Robin Williams. "I feel great about accepting this prize," Pryor, 57, said in a statement. "Two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humor.

If George W. Bush told us that the sun sets in the north, and Molly Ivins, using wit, wisdom and reality, wrote that the sun actually sets in the west, the Tribune would receive letters from people accusing her of left-wing ranting and a deep hatred for Bush. I know that as surely as I know that the sun sets in the west.

As the U.S. death toll in Iraq steadily rises, two questions become increasingly pressing: With nothing to show for our efforts but body bags and a newly invigorated hatred of America, why did we start a war there? And what does our future there look like, if not the tragic cycle of bloodshed and recrimination that marks Israel's occupation of Palestine?

Perhaps Louis Farrakhan would better serve the community by focusing on the message of personal and public reconciliation than the pettiness of how many actually attended the Million Man March in Washington. Farrakhan had an outstanding opportunity to begin eliminating a long history of bigoted and racist public hatred by choosing problems to focus and improve upon. Just when you hope things can change they stay the same.

This is regarding "`That woman,' 5 years later." Interesting editorial. Now just substitute the name of "Richard M. Nixon" for that of the "Clintons" and "30 years" instead of "5." The last paragraph is still pertinent: "No one seems to have gone broke by overestimating some people's hatred of [President Nixon]. Indeed, it seems the [Nixon] administration is still providing full employment for those who despise him, even though [he is dead]".